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Cancer of the bowel is one of the biggest killer of millions of people throughout the world. The reason that this cancer becomes more lethal is the fact that it metastasizes to the different organ systems at a much faster rate. In UK alone this cancer is the cause of about 50 deaths per day from bowel cancer and there are about 18,000 men who fall victim to this cancer and about 16,000 women who fall in this category. This just needs a lot of awareness among people as to what are the different measures that they need to take to prevent the bowel cancer. Since this disease is growing at a very aggressive rate we all need to do a lot more than what we are doing now. There was a very discouraging news that came up in terms of bowel cancer.

Recently the NHS in UK proposed that the two drugs known as Avastin as well as Erbitux should not be prescribed. They said that there was insufficient evidence to support that these two drugs are helping the people who are suffering from the bowel cancer. This proposal has faced a lot of opposition of the different groups and organizations as well as a lot of people who are suffering from the bowel cancer. These people said that they just cannot think that they would have survived without the use of Avastin or Erbitux because for them these medicines are the hope and if these medicines are being taken away from them then they would not be able to live. It is similar to ask a person that he would not be getting oxygen to breathe.

A lot of people have shared that they just could not believe that this kind of proposal has been raised since there are so many evidences where people have got so much benefit from these drugs and that these medicines have been able to give them their life back. The different charitable organizations have said that these drugs are the best known option for the people who are suffering from cancer that has spread to the different organ structures. They are also saying that these drugs are also miracle drugs because they are known to increase the life expectancy of the individuals by four to six months and that is a great deal of time for a person who is to die in a day or two without it. It is really concerning that Scotland has made a similar decision as well.

It is a fact that the bowel cancers can be treated if detected early and they are not treatable if they are being detected in the later stages. The drugs Avastin and Erbitux are monoclonal antibodies and they are just similar to the biological agent such as Herceptin that is being used to treat the breast cancer. The Avastin and the Erbitux are being given to the patients in whom the cancer is being known to metastasize to the liver and the lungs and they bear a potent effect by killing the tumor cells. Avastain is also known as bevacizumab and it kills the cancer cells by simply blocking up the food supply of the tumor cells, which is blood and thus prevents the spread of the tumor from growing into the body.

There are a lot of patients who have come up protesting that this proposal must not be considered because this will just kill thousands of people just because they did not get the treatment for their illness. There are people who said that since they have been taking these medications they are feeling much much better than before and they just do not know as to what is gong to happen to them if the drug is being taken away from the market and is not available to them.

These medicines are being used as a last resort of treatment and is being given when all the other chemotherapies have failed and that is what makes a drug of hope for a lot of people who consider it the last step and a savior that separates their life from death. The drug Erbitux, which is also known as the cetuximab does its work by stopping the proliferation of the cancerous cells. These drugs have also been known to shrink the size of the tumor by about 50% in about four months’ time.

Another reason that is being discussed mostly is the cost of the drugs and that Avastin costs about 16,800 pounds whereas Erbitux costs about 11,700 pounds and that is another reason that the NHS is thinking to stop the prescription of these two drugs saying that they have scarce resources and they do not think that these medicines are having any beneficial effect on the patients at all. On the other hands the doctors who are giving these therapies to their patients are saying that they have found good results in people in whom all other forms of therapies have been useless where these two medications are proving beneficial.

People are saying that this is a very cruel step by the NHS because this can just cause loss of lives of a lot of people and people just will be dying miserably if this drug is being taken off of market or is being stopped being written as a prescription drug. The importance of the treatment through this drug can only be known by a person who is being told that he only has a week to live and that he has a chance to survive for about four to six months if he opts for Avastin and Erbitux and one can easily understand as to how important these drugs are for individuals who are standing at that stage of life and death. People are being saying that they just cannot believe that the NHS is not willing to fund the drugs that are saving the lives of millions of people who are suffering from this horrendous disease.

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